Lyons: This scam is real, but there's more to it than that

Published: Monday, December 2, 2013 at 6:42 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, December 2, 2013 at 6:42 p.m.

A South County man has warned me — and lots of other people, too, by way of email — about a scam that sounds more brazen than most.

Creative, too. But unlike scams done by phone and the Internet, this one requires the perpetrator to come to your door. And to bring wine and flowers, no less.

I love hearing about scams and enjoy thwarting a few, or so I always hope, by letting people know about them. But since scam warnings, despite good intentions by the senders, are sometimes almost as baseless as the fictional scenarios presented by fraudsters, I wasn't quite sure, at first, if this warning was about a real threat.

“Very new, very clever credit card scam,” the subject line claimed.

The cautionary account tells of a couple accepting a surprise delivery from a courier company's delivery man. The uniformed courier arrived in an appropriate-looking van that sported the right sort of logo. He walked up carrying a basket of roses and a bottle of wine.

In some versions, the delivery man calls ahead first. Either way, he comes with much the same story: He doesn't know who sent the items, but a card will arrive later to solve that mystery. But since the delivery includes alcohol — something the delivery man can't lawfully leave on a doorstep where kids might get it — he needs to get a signature and collect a small, $3.50 “delivery/ verification charge,” to prove he delivered the package to someone of legal drinking age.

That can't be paid in cash, however. For record-keeping purposes, he can accept only plastic, and he shows them his debit card reader. After a quick swipe of the giftee's card, and after the cardholder enters his password, the delivery is done. Enjoy!

The trickster isn't after the $3.50. And, no, he doesn't pocket the card. No need to. The card-reading device grabbed all the information needed — including the password — to create a duplicate card and use it. In the version sent to me, the couple learn a few days later that $4,000 has been drained from their bank account.

Should everyone in Southwest Florida now be on the alert for bogus delivery vans, as the warning seemed to imply?

Not really. Always be wary, of course. That scam has been pulled at least a few times, and there must be many variations. But if people would do a little Internet checking before passing along such stuff to everyone in their address book, they would often find many more interesting and relevant details.

In this case, I found no recent news accounts and no Federal Trade Commission warnings about that wine-and-roses method of theft being attempted anywhere of late, but I did quickly locate a Snopes.com report.

Snopes, which debunks many urban legends and other bogus claims, listed this scam as real. But, it said, it was apparently done in Australia, in 2008. Police there soon made an arrest, and the wine and flower deliveries apparently stopped.

Related scam alerts passed around via the Internet often fail to mention Australia, or 2008, or any arrest. To me, that's leaving out a happy ending. Instead, the usual accounts tend to make it sound like that delivery man is working local neighborhoods and could well be coming up your walk with wine and flowers right now.

<p>A South County man has warned me — and lots of other people, too, by way of email — about a scam that sounds more brazen than most. </p><p>Creative, too. But unlike scams done by phone and the Internet, this one requires the perpetrator to come to your door. And to bring wine and flowers, no less.</p><p>I love hearing about scams and enjoy thwarting a few, or so I always hope, by letting people know about them. But since scam warnings, despite good intentions by the senders, are sometimes almost as baseless as the fictional scenarios presented by fraudsters, I wasn't quite sure, at first, if this warning was about a real threat.</p><p>“Very new, very clever credit card scam,” the subject line claimed.</p><p>The cautionary account tells of a couple accepting a surprise delivery from a courier company's delivery man. The uniformed courier arrived in an appropriate-looking van that sported the right sort of logo. He walked up carrying a basket of roses and a bottle of wine.</p><p>In some versions, the delivery man calls ahead first. Either way, he comes with much the same story: He doesn't know who sent the items, but a card will arrive later to solve that mystery. But since the delivery includes alcohol — something the delivery man can't lawfully leave on a doorstep where kids might get it — he needs to get a signature and collect a small, $3.50 “delivery/ verification charge,” to prove he delivered the package to someone of legal drinking age.</p><p>That can't be paid in cash, however. For record-keeping purposes, he can accept only plastic, and he shows them his debit card reader. After a quick swipe of the giftee's card, and after the cardholder enters his password, the delivery is done. Enjoy!</p><p>The trickster isn't after the $3.50. And, no, he doesn't pocket the card. No need to. The card-reading device grabbed all the information needed — including the password — to create a duplicate card and use it. In the version sent to me, the couple learn a few days later that $4,000 has been drained from their bank account.</p><p>Should everyone in Southwest Florida now be on the alert for bogus delivery vans, as the warning seemed to imply?</p><p>Not really. Always be wary, of course. That scam has been pulled at least a few times, and there must be many variations. But if people would do a little Internet checking before passing along such stuff to everyone in their address book, they would often find many more interesting and relevant details. </p><p>In this case, I found no recent news accounts and no Federal Trade Commission warnings about that wine-and-roses method of theft being attempted anywhere of late, but I did quickly locate a Snopes.com report.</p><p>Snopes, which debunks many urban legends and other bogus claims, listed this scam as real. But, it said, it was apparently done in Australia, in 2008. Police there soon made an arrest, and the wine and flower deliveries apparently stopped.</p><p>Related scam alerts passed around via the Internet often fail to mention Australia, or 2008, or any arrest. To me, that's leaving out a happy ending. Instead, the usual accounts tend to make it sound like that delivery man is working local neighborhoods and could well be coming up your walk with wine and flowers right now.</p><p>Not at all likely, I'd say. But if it happens, now you're ready.</p>